There are several investment avenues available to save taxes, two of such options are National Savings Certificate (NSC) and 5-year Post Office Time Deposit (POTD). Although bank fixed deposits (FDs) with terms of 5 years or more also provide tax benefits u/s 80C of the Income Tax Act, but both NSC and 5-year POTD are issued by Post Office and the capital invested in the two schemes enjoys government protection and hence is fully secured.
Here is a comparison of some features of NSC and 5-year POTD:
Investment Limit
In both NSC and 5-year POTD, the minimum investment limit is Rs 100 and in multiple of Rs 100 thereof. There is no limit on maximum investment in both the schemes. Investments in both the schemes may be done individually, jointly or on behalf of minor. Multiple NSC may be purchased from a single Post Office and/or from different branches. Similarly, multiple POTD accounts may be opened in a single Post Office and/or in different branches.
